Milestone Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,522 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 28.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,962 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.7% of Milestone Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Milestone Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. St. James Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 98.3% in the 4th quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $93,000. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

AAPL stock opened at $189.46 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $186.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $198.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The firm had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, June 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.